Holiday Challenge 2012 (1 Viewer)

[Radioman970]

Scrooged. I was thinking Gene Wilder would have been interesting in the Murray role. But Murray is terrific. Lots to like about this... the odd unraveling at the end threw me off first viewing. But has since become a fav. Everything holds up extremely well. hard to believe this almost 25 years old.

'Twas the Night before Christmas. Rankin/Bass. Takes me back. Some things don't translate as well to adult brains but I remember how much I loved this as a kid. Extremely nostalgic. good hearted story. Excellent music that stays with you long after it's over.

 

[JohnS]

Scooby-Doo Haunted Holidays a more up to date version of the animated cartoon. With Mathew Lilard doing shaggy and Facts of Life Mindy Cohn doing Velma. It has good animation and a somewhat interesting monster. Didn't buy the whole shape shifting thing the bad guy could do even though Daphne explains it logically.
Scooby & Scrappy-Doo #620 "A Nutcracker Scoob" there's been better episodes. But surprisingly Scrappy wasn't that annoying in this episode.
The talking cat trying to fight with Scrappy was just a little too silly. And I have no idea why this random girl called Scooby, "Uncle Scooby" when she has no relation to him. especially when Scrappy calls him the exact same thing.
Seinfeld #312 "The Red Dot" and #910 "The Strike" The red dot episode is great just to hear George Costanza's answer to him having sex on his office desk. The strike episode is now considered a classic since it celebrates a new holiday every December. Everything about this episode is great, including Jerry's reaction everytime his pretty girlfriend turns ugly in low lighting.
Unwrapped "Classic Holiday Treats" this episode they showed how candy cane trees, ribbon candy and cake Yule logs are made. Visited Turkeyville restaurant where Thanksgiving dinner is served all year long. Also showed how Harry & David gourmet treats makes their Cheesecake Christmas trees. And a behind the scenes look at the operating process at Hickory Farms.
So far I have watched 87 different things.
11 movies
49 TV episodes
27 Specials & Shorts
And I'm still not done.
I have Muppet Christmas Carol, Home Alone 2 and Christmas Story to still watch
And I have 20 or so TV episodes to watch before Tuesday night.

 

[Radioman970]

I love both those Seinfeld episodes. Well, I guess I love them all actually!

 

[Radioman970]

Christmas Vacation. Hopefully I'll get this replaced with the blu ray in time for next viewing. One of the essential viewings along with A Christmas Story, and others. Doesn't get much funnier than this at Christmas.

Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. My fav special. Been watching this all my life. Some truly amazing about watching this and all those nostalgic feelings bombard you taking all the humbug away. Love the extras of the alternate song "Fame & Fortune" which is how I remember seeing it. And the original TV advertisement. I remember how much anticipation came with this when me and sis were little. We'd see the ad in the TV guide or on TV during out shows and we knew Santa day was coming soon. Oh! I remember vividly how much the abominable snowman scared me. But yukon and Hermy made it all better.

 

[JohnS]

Christmas Vacation. Hopefully I'll get this replaced with the blu ray in time for next viewing. One of the essential viewings along with A Christmas Story, and others. Doesn't get much funnier than this at Christmas.

Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. My fav special. Been watching this all my life. Some truly amazing about watching this and all those nostalgic feelings bombard you taking all the humbug away. Love the extras of the alternate song "Fame & Fortune" which is how I remember seeing it. And the original TV advertisement. I remember how much anticipation came with this when me and sis were little. We'd see the ad in the TV guide or on TV during out shows and we knew Santa day was coming soon. Oh! I remember vividly how much the abominable snowman scared me. But yukon and Hermy made it all better.

I also told myself that I was going to upgrade all my Christmas movies to bluray this year.
Which I did. Of course there are some that aren't available yet on bluray.
The Christmas Vacation Blu-ray does have the commentary by the cast which is cool.
I have yet to listen to it, but will eventually listen to it.
Tonight fox is going to air The new Family Guy and American Dad Christmas episodes that the postponed last week due to the school shooting.
Next year I'm taking off two weeks in December to have my own Christmas at home watching nothing but Christmas stuff. So I'm really hoping everything else not yet to bluray makes it to bluray by then.
Mixed Nuts and The Ref really need to hit bluray in 2013.

 

[Radioman970]

^^^ the DVD has commentary as well, no Chase though. I listened to a little bit of it, intros and a little bit of the first part should be interesting.
Home Alone 2. Turns into a cartoon in the final 3rd. Lacks the originality of the first film (not a whole lot new here). But I like it anyway. Me and the family went to see this at the theater. I hadn't seen the first film yet. We had a great time. Watching this with kids is definitely the best way... too bad I didn't have any this time. But one should never watch this with someone who keeps pointing out what's wrong with it. Leave right away if that happens and watch it later. You'll have NO fun.
Charlie Brown Christmas. Pure Christmas magic. I love this damn thing. Right up there with Peanuts Thanksgiving, 2 of my favorite things in the world. When I was a child I had all the books from these. they are a bit expensive to buy now. My mom said she may have them somewhere. I hope so. I'd never sell them. They most likely have my ABCs and 123s in them. And some doodles.

 

I may add "The Tiny Tree" and "Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too" tonight. I'm finishing up tonight with my traditional closing presentation of "The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus." (Rankin/Bass) This has been a great year for viewing. I left out "Scrooged," "I'll Be Home For Christmas" (Holbrook and Saint), "The House Without a Christmas Tree," and "Raggedy Ann and Andy's Christmas Adventure." Everything else got watched, and I added some more stuff this year. Upgraded "Home Alone" movies to blu-ray and several other specials from vhs to dvd. Next year I hope to add some more variety specials, since I have all the animated specials now.

 

[bryan4999]

I had a long drive to make and listened to the audio book of "A Christmas Carol" as read by Patrick Stewart. I know it isn't television or movie, but since he became famous on tv as Captain Picard I thought it might count. He does a wonderful job with all the voices. One thing we miss in movie adaptations of this story is Dickens' prose, which is so wonderful.

 

[JohnS]

I had a long drive to make and listened to the audio book of "A Christmas Carol" as read by Patrick Stewart. I know it isn't television or movie, but since he became famous on tv as Captain Picard I thought it might count. He does a wonderful job with all the voices. One thing we miss in movie adaptations of this story is Dickens' prose, which is so wonderful.

If you have to do this again next year, check out podcasts on iTunes called " Old Time Radio Christmas" they are actual old radio broadcasts during Christmas time. They are pretty cool.

 

[bryan4999]

If you have to do this again next year, check out podcasts on iTunes called " Old Time Radio Christmas" they are actual old radio broadcasts during Christmas time. They are pretty cool.

Thanks, I will! I love OTR -

 

[Michael Elliott]

It's a Wonderful Life (1946) :star::star::star::star: (Theater)
I've gotten to watch several classic films on the big screen the past few years and this here was probably the biggest highlight in regards to actually watching it with a group of people. My girlfriend and I went to a midnight screening and I was happy to see a nearly sold out crowd of around 250 people. It really did seem like everyone loved the picture and of course many were already fans of the film. You could tell that people really loved this movie simply because of the time it was playing and it really did bring out the old and young. I really enjoyed watching this with a crowd, which is something I usually hate. I mean, I do try to plan my theatrical screenings at times where I might get lucky and be the only person there. My girlfriend violently hated the film but we all need a Grinch.
A Scooby-Doo Christmas (2004) :star::star: (Boom, I think)
Scooby and the gang are on their way to Daphne's relatives for the Christmas season when they come across a small town being haunted by a headless snowman. It turns out that this vengeful snowman is costing everyone their Christmas spirit so the gang decides to do something about it. I've gone through countless TV episodes and movies from Scooby over the past couple of years but this here has to be the most boring one I've sat through. Thankfully this thing was just a little over twenty-minutes or else things really would have been horrid. There are all sorts of problems with this thing but the biggest is that it's story just isn't all that interesting or entertaining. The entire "mystery" is pretty easy to figure out but I think a lot of kids are going to be tuning out long before the ending. Another problem is that there's just no laughs to be had as the entire film just has a sluggish feel to it. This film does feature some nice animation and I did like the snowman but there are just so many better things dealing with Scooby and Christmas that it makes this one here well worth skipping.
Home Alone 2 (1992) :star::star::star: (FoxMovieHD)
A year after the events in the previous film, 10-year-old Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) finds himself alone once again but this time in New York City. It doesn't take long for him to run into Harry and Marv (Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern) who plan on robbing a toy store for some charity cash. It's funny but growing up I always thought HOME ALONE 2 was better than the original but revisiting it after all these years has me changing my mind. I was really surprised to see how this one didn't quite hold up as well as the original and I think a lot of it has to do with some pretty big errors with the screenplay. Needless to say, the main reason for this thing being made was because the first was such a massive hit. You can expect this type of sequel to be pretty much a remake as everything funny in the first film is copied here. This includes the old gangster movie with the gun, the various knocks and beatings taken by the crooks and of course the "true" meaning of family. All of that stuff here is still funny but it just doesn't come close to what the original offered. The biggest problem with HOME ALONE 2 is its running time, which is just way too long for this film and after a while you're really wishing that it would hurry up and end. Still, there's no question that Culkin is just wonderful here in the role that he will always be remembered for. Both Pesci and Stern are fun as the bad guys and we get nice support from Catherine O'Hara and John Heard who have to be the worst parents in screen history. Tim Curry is also fun in his small role.
'Tis the Season to Be Smurfy (1987) :star::star::star: (Boom, I think)
The Smurfs learn the true meaning of Christmas when they put their own plans to the side in order to help out a poor man with a sick wife. If you're a fan of the television show then there's no question that you're going to be entertained by this Christmas special, which pretty much does everything you'd expect a film like this to do. For starters, the film certainly gets across the Christmas spirit without having to preach. I really liked the way the film used the Smurfs to show how greed can ruin the holiday while if you help someone it will make your own holiday much better. There was also some pretty funny stuff here including the early stuff inside Smurf Village when Wild Smurf shows up destroying everything because he doesn't know what Christmas is. There's a subplot involving a thief that really never pays off too much but this is just a small problem. For the most part the animation is good and check out the bad guy who looks like a cross between Fred Flintstone and Gargamel.
Casper's First Christmas (1979) :star::star::star: (Boom, I think)
Casper and Hairy Scary leave their old, dark house for a few and while they're gone Yogi Bear, Boo Boo, Huckleberry Hound and various others move in. When the ghosts return Hairy wants to scare the group while Casper wants to become friends. CASPER'S FIRST Christmas certainly isn't a masterpiece and it contains a pretty weak story but it's still quite a bit of fun seeing all the Hanna-Barbera gang in one film together. I think the best part of the movie is actually its animation, which is what you'd expect from the company. I really liked how dark the film was early on and when it finally lights up towards the end, you get a great sense of Christmas. I thought the Casper character was put to good use here and I liked how he wanted to experience Christmas for the first time with friends. The entire subplot of why Hairy is so unhappy doesn't really pay off in a big way but it's decent enough. Fans of these characters will certainly enjoy seeing all of them together and with the short running time it's really a no-brainer.
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) :star::star::star: (DVD)
The third film in the series has Clark (Chevy Chase) deciding to stay home and instead of going anywhere he invites all the family over for the holidays and sure enough nothing goes right. I must admit that I enjoyed the previous two films more than this one but there's still enough laughs here to make this one well worth seeing. I think the film certainly has some flaws in it but when there are so many laughs you really can't complain too much. I think Chase is in fine form as he goes more over-the-top here than in the previous installments. He's so wild here that at times he seems like he's playing a cartoon character. This certainly isn't a bad thing as Chase can handle this type of comedy but there were a few too many slapstick scenes early on. I think what really makes this film so memorable is the terrific supporting cast. Beverly D'Angelo is just fine as the supporting wife but we get terrific work from Diane Ladd, E.G. Marshall, Juliette Lewis, John Randolph, William Hickey, Brian Doyle-Murray, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss and Mae Questel. The stand out however has to be Randy Quaid returning as Cousin Eddie. The actor really does a terrific job bringing this character to life and the comic timing is just flawless no matter what he's doing. There are so many classic scenes here that it's hard to pick out the best but some of the highlights include the cat sequence, the walk through Wal Mart, the hilarious dog-under-the-table and of course the first appearance of Eddie.
The Christmas Carol (1949) :star::star::half: (Amazon Instant)
Vincent Price hosts and narrates this made-for-TV version of the Charles Dickens' classic about Ebeneezer Scrooge (Taylor Holmes) who is visited by his former partner and warned that three spirits will visit him. I've seen so many versions of this story that you obvious begin to feel a bit of deja vu but I've always felt that the story itself is so strong that it's not too hard to bring one into it. This version here has several good things going for it but it's obviously done on a pretty low-budget and the wooden sets and some poor acting certainly doesn't help. I thought that all of the sets were rather cheap and fake looking but I think a lot of the television shows from this period suffered the same fate. Just take a look at the chains around Marley and you can see that there wasn't too much imagination going on. Another weak thing was the performance by George James who is so still as the Ghost of Christmas Present that you'd think they really dug him up out of some grave. With that said, the performance by Holmes was actually pretty good. He's certainly not one of the best Scrooge's that I've seen but I enjoyed his performance. I also thought Price did a good job reading from the book and just check out the way he keeps reminding us that Marley is dead. I'm not sure why they changed the "A" to a "The" in the title but fans of the story and Price will want to check this one out.
Jack Frost (1997) :star: (Netflix stream)
A van carrying the serial killer Jack Frost collides with a truck carrying a secret acid, which turns the killer into a mutant snowman. Soon the snowman is back in the small town killing people and going after the sheriff who arrested him. JACK FROST is a very silly movie and I'm pretty sure the writer and director didn't want anyone taking it too serious. I mean, we're dealing with a killer snowman movie so something silly is bound to happen. This horror film appears to have a small cult following but I must admit that they saw something that I didn't because for the most part this thing is just downright slow and boring. In fact, I'd say the interesting idea of a killer snowman dies around the twenty-minute mark and then we're left with a very long time of nothing much happening. This was obviously done on a very small budget so this will explain why the snowman isn't all that believable. In fact, the majority of the time we don't really see the snowman doing much as editing makes up for the lack of movement in the creature. Another problem is that none of the human characters are slightly interesting and this just adds to the boredom level. The kills scenes are mostly forgettable, although I must say that the rape sequence is one you're not going to forget. The film goes for a lot of humor but the majority of it doesn't work. Various snowman jokes fall flat and there's just nothing too funny here. Fans of Shannon Elizabeth (AMERICAN PIE) might want to fast forward through the film to get to her parts and I must admit that the way the director makes you think we're going to see her naked but then never shows anything is quite clever if annoying.
Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman (2000) BOMB
Horrid sequel to a really awful movie has everyone's least favorite killer snowman following the cop from the first film to a beach where more deaths happen. JACK FROST 2 is a painful film to sit through because it's just so downright boring that the 91-minutes really do feel like torture. In fact, I'd highly recommend someone to brutally mutilate themselves before sitting down to watch this thing because it really is that bad. Like the first film, you really shouldn't take this thing too serious but whereas the first at least had a couple interesting things in it, this sequel is just downright awful. On a technical level I guess you can give writer-director Michael Cooney some credit that the film looks decent but there's still no way to overlook everything else. Look, I get it that this here is just meant to be camp but I didn't laugh at any of the spoofs and I certainly wasn't scare by anything here (unless you could the horrid CGI snowman). The film contains bad acting, bad writing, bad special effects, a bad story, bad kills and just not a single good thing. You really can't even enjoy this thing on a "so bad it's good" level because of how hard it is to get through the thing. This here is certainly something that Santa should give out to bad kids instead of coal.

 

[JohnS]

I have A Scooby-Doo Christmas on my DVR, with your comments Micheal, I just might erase it.
And the thing with those Old Time Radio Christmas audios, I have a few of them downloaded and ready to go for next year.
I want to listen to them on a night when I'll be putting together this massive puzzle I've been saving to put together.
Here's what I watched the last few days.
Home Alone 2 (1992) I find this to be an enjoyable sequel. yes it's cartoony and is basically like the Hangover II the exact same thing as its original, but it's still a whole lot of fun.
Seinfeld #413 "The Pick" The only thing Christmas about this episode is Elaine sending out an accidental naughty Christmas card.
Everything else, while not in the spirit of Christmas is still funny. Another good episode.
Unwrapped (3 episodes)
"Holiday Helpings" - How Ferrara's Orange Balls, Lucern's Egg Nog, Sara Lee's Cheesecakes, Bruce's Yams, Challah Bread, Capriotti's "Bobbie" sandwich, Vanilla Extract, Canned Pumpkins and Holiday Gillato are all made. They also show Dove Chocolate that have choclotiers that throw chocolate tasting parties and make holiday chocolate dishes. All interesting stuff. Including a Rabbi that bleshes parts of the dough beofre the Challah bread is made.
"Holiday Snacks & Treats"- Swiss Colony that makes their own cheese. Wilton Cookie Company that makes different holiday cookies.
Visited a turkey farm that raises the turkey to be pardoned by the president. Mrs. Cubbison's stuffing is made. visit to Reddi Whip company.
Mrs. Smith's Pumpkin Pies are made. How Honey Baked Ham company bake their hams. Gingerbread houses from Gingerbread Construction Company. Jones soda that makes holiday packs of Fruitcake, Turkey and Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Green Bran Casserole and Cranberry sauce sodas. And a visit to Daisy Brand Company how they can Cranberry sauce.
More interesting behind the scenes of how food is made. The Jones Holiday sodas just sound so disgusting to try.
"Holiday Treats"- How Spanglers make and bends their candy canes. How Korbel makes and bottles their champagne. French's French Fried Onions are made and canned. How chocolate gold coins (Gelts) are made and printed with the emblems. Swiss Colony makes thier snowmen Melties. See's Peanut Brittle is made. Beatrice Bakery Company makes their fruit cakes. How a macaroon is made and a visit to Harry & David compnay on how they make their cheesecakes.
More great stuff. Watching all the stuff that makes you really hungry.

 

[Bryan^H]

I thought October was a busy month....WOW. December has been a nightmare for me. Lot of overtime at work, and the business of Christmas shopping have left me wondering where this month has gone.
No movies yet, but I have managed to watch Rudolph, Frosty The Snowman, and Charlie Brown Christmas.
Tonight I am watching-
-Three's Company: Three's Christmas(season 2)
-The Jeffersons(season 4 Christmas episode, have the disc prepped forgot the name)
-Happy Days: Guess who's coming to Christmas(season 2)
Laverne and Shirley: Oh' Come all ye Bums(season 4)
Christmas I plan on watching the marathon of 'A Christmas Story' on TBS.

Merry Christmas Everyone.

 

[JohnS]

more I watched...
Jeffersons #415 "984 W. 124th Street, Apt. 5C" More of a humble Christmas episode. There is a funny beginning with Florence getting drunk from the eggnog.
Benson #613 "Home for Christmas" This is the first ever Benson episode I've seen.
Nothing too funny since it was more of a serious nature if Benson had died how the others would have carried on seven years late.
Clayton does do a funny sort of The Great Race Professor Fate villain laugh. And Missy Gold dresses like a tramp in her alternative reality.
I'm stuck at work here on Christmas Eve and still have to work on Christmas night. But I still plan on watching Christmas Story when I get home in a few hours.
I've been having so much fun doing this and hosting this challenge that I'll be glad to do this again next year.
I even plan on making the calendar more elaborate since I did miss a lot of stuff.

 

[Malcolm R]

A Christmas Carol (2010)
Robert Zemeckis' continuing obsession with motion capture results in the latest interpretation of Dickens' classic. I still find these motion capture films unsettling. I couldn't watch The Polar Express, and I didn't really enjoy Beowulf, but by the time this one came out, the process seemed to have been reflned enough to be watchable, IMO. Either that or the fantastical material just lends itself more to the process. Nothing really groundbreaking here, beyond the filming process. Jim Carrey plays multiple roles including Scrooge. It seemed like he spent a lot of time falling from great heights, a device that was overused. I'm also a bit unclear on the whole opening segment of the "Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come" segment with the chase by the demonic horses and coach. Is that in the original story? Overall an interesting interpretation, if somewhat noisy and frantic.
A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa
Waiting at the post office to mail last minute cards and letters, including some for Santa, the Muppets cause a catastrophe in the mail sorting room that results in some of the letters not being processed. They attempt to deliver the letters to the North Pole themselves so that the children will not be disappointed on Christmas morning. Muppet Christmas movies/specials are always pretty good, but this is probably the lesser of all the holiday efforts. Made as a one-hour TV special, the show is rather short and the story kind of slight to create too much Muppet magic.

 

[JohnS]

I forgot to mention that last night I watched Rifftrax's "Santa's Village of Madness"
Three shorts that are presented by K. Gordon Murray of "Santa Claus" MST3K fame.
All three shorts are probably the most horrendous, LSD induced and annoying Christmas things your eyes will ever see.
Santa Claus and Merlin show up again.
And this time is accompanied by Puss-n-Boots a walking skunk in which his friends complain that he smells (go figure) and a walking wolf that complains about his ulcer.
Gordon even recycles some "Santa Claus" footage to use in one short.
The MST3k guys do a great and humorous riffing job.

 

[Radioman970]

Watched a few minutes of A Christmas Story 2. I think I'll watch the rest when it isn't Christmas. lol
Santa Claus is Comin to Town. Could be the best of Rankin/Bass. Extremely well done. From the kids letters to Santa being answered by a wonderful Fred Astaire to the very end when the whole thing settles into the way Santa is looked upon today. I'd say my fav along with Charle Brown and Rudolph. Melts the blues away and takes me back to that similar time... the reason I watch these at all at my age.
Shrek the Halls. Mom had never seen this so we caught it on TV shortly after getting back from seeing The Hobbit in IMAX 3D. (just wanted to go OT to say we loved the hell out of this... can't watch anything like that any other way without it seeming lacking!!) A pretty good special. I think mom like the one with green aliens that played before it. I only sparatically watched it and have no idea what it was called.

 

[JohnS]

I remember seeing the SCTV Christmas party episode a few years back.
I actually would like to watch it again next year.
amazon does have it availible on DVD.
I'm looking at the Wikipedia list of Christmas TV episodes.
I'd like to see the Hart to Hart, Golden Girls, Growing Pains, Just Shoot Me! Mr. Belvedere, News Radio for next year.
Don't forget that the new Doctor Who Christmas episode is on today. Finally get a new companion! BBC is also showing the Doctor Who Christmas episodes today leading up to the new episode
I have updated the calendar for Dec 27th with the New Years episode of Friends.
Also added showings for The Ref and 200 Cigarettes Dec 28th-31st
Plus the showing of Happy New Year, Charlie Brown on ABC on Dec 27th.

 

[Michael Elliott]

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 2 (2003) :half: (Netflix rental)
Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) gets bitten by a monkey so to avoid a lawsuit the company sends him and his family on a vacation to a tropical island. Man, oh man, what a complete and utter disaster this thing here turned out to be. It's somewhat shocking because it seems writer Matty Simmons, a vet of this series, was really trying to delivers the goods to fans. I mean, we've got Cousin Eddie returning to the series. We've got Dana Barron from the first VACATION film coming back as Audrey Griswold. We've also got Eric Idol coming back as his character from the second film in the series. Throughout the movie there are other jokes aiming back at the previous films in the series as well as other National Lampoon movies including a cameo from Stephen Furst of ANIMAL HOUSE fame. They went that far to come up with something for the fans but they should have spent more time on the screenplay because it's just horrid. Not for a single frame does this low-budget film feel like it's a part of the series. There just aren't any funny moments and most of the scenes are just so poorly written and handled that you can't help but feel embarrassed. Even worse is that the entire thing is an obvious attempt to just make money, which is a real shame as I'm sure the series had more to offer. The performances are pretty much what you'd expect but Quaid can't capture the fire from his previous entries in the series and he comes across rather bland. Fred Willard doesn't add much but Sung Hi Lee steals the film with her incredible beauty, which makes this thing worth sitting through. I will admit that it was fun seeing Barron again but her character is poorly written. 50's Scream Queen Beverly Garland appears towards the end in the final film of her career. NATIONAL LAMPOON'S Christmas VACATION 2 is a truly terrible movie on pretty much all levels so people really shouldn't expect anything like the original series.
Yogi Bear's All-Star Comedy Christmas Caper (1982) :star::star::star: (Boom)
Cute made-for-TV special has Yogi and Boo Boo sneaking away from the park to head off to the big city to see some friends. Once there they come across a rich little girl who gets everything from her father except his time and attention. Fans of the Hanna-Barbera characters aren't going to find a great story here but there are so many great characters on display that you can't help be entertained for the majority of the running time. For the most part the story itself isn't anything too original or interesting but it allows the filmmakers to get across a certain message. As you'd expect, the animation is quite good and I thought the film had a very good look that really managed to bring the scenes and characters to life. Not only do we get Yogi and Boo Boo but there's also Augie Doggie, Blabber Mouse, Dixie, Mr. Jinks, Wally Gator, Quick Draw McGraw, Snagglepuss and even Fred and Barney have a cameo.
A Carol for Another Christmas (1964) :star: (TCM)
Rod Sterling wrote this updated version of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, which centers on a grieving father (Sterling Hayden) who recently lost his son in a war and takes his anger out on everyone around him. The man eventually gets visited by three ghosts (Steve Lawrence, Pat Hingle, Robert Shaw) and learns a lesson. A CAROL FOR ANOTHER Christmas was directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and if you look around at reviews you'll see that there are many positive ones but I'm not going to be among them. In fact, I'd go as far to say that this here is without question the worst "version" of the Dickens' tale that I've ever seen and it's rather shocking that with a writer and director like this film has that the film could turn out so bad. The idea of updating the story isn't what kills the film. The film is a very anti-war picture that speaks of the evils of war and it pretty much beats the viewer over the head with its message. I don't mind any film being political and I don't mind a message being passed but what I can't stand is when that political message is poorly written and is nothing more than a writer ranting for people to hear his story. I personally grew tired of the dialogue within the first ten-minutes and I really started to hate the characters. Nothing here felt real because it just seemed like one big political rant. Yes, war is evil. Yes, people die in war. The message could have gotten across a lot better without all the preaching and bad dialogue. Not to mention countless bad situations where things happen for no reason other for another speech. The film offers up some fine performances by all and we also get Ben Gazzara, Eva Marie Saint, Britt Ekland and Peter Sellers in brief roles. Fans of the all-star cast are going to be tempted to watch this thing and it's a real shame their talents are so wasted.

 

[Radioman970]

Rifftrax needs to do Chris Vac 2.